As the city faces an economic crisis brought by the coronavirus pandemic and the downturn in oil, it needs to recognize the enormous opportunity to make changes that are necessary to become a leading 21st-century city.
Many have lost jobs and many more have seen pay and hours cut during the pandemic. Industries that have been able to transition to work-from-home have been some of the least impacted.
Research related to Houston’s problems with ‘newly poor’ neighborhoods, housing affordability, auto loan debt, transportation and COVID-19 all point to one overarching issue: Inequality.
The economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak coupled with the pandemic being politicized by some will challenge the feelings of solidarity and trust that have been building in Houston in recent years. It’s important to remember the city and surrounding region’s ability to unite in the face of disaster.
Stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19 resulted in Houstonians driving a lot less. But Houston hasn’t stopped being an industrial city during the pandemic, which shows why reducing all air pollution is key to protecting public health.
Interviews for the 2020 Kinder Houston Area Survey were conducted just before the world was upended. The results of the survey reflect the existing disparities in health care and economics that the COVID-19 outbreak has underscored and exacerbated.
As restaurants in Houston reopen and expand beyond to-go and delivery service, they’re required to provide more space between diners. In a number of cities, steps are being taken to allow businesses like restaurants to temporarily use outdoor space and parking lots to help with adequate physical distancing.
For those who haven’t completed the ongoing 2020 Census, an important reason to respond online, by phone or by mail to the nine-question survey is the neighbor next door, two doors down or down the street.
A dashboard created by the Kinder Institute’s Houston Community Data Connections shows job-loss estimates in each Harris County community. Many of the areas impacted most by the economic downturn are home to low-income renters, the working poor and single-parent households.
Has the COVID-19 crisis made you more aware of things you didn’t properly appreciate before the outbreak? What have you learned new reverence for since life was disrupted?
Over the years, more and more of our public space has been given over to cars and congestion while pedestrians, cyclists and others have been squeezed out. One possible silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic is the chance to give some of that space back.
More than 40% of Houston-area households have lost income as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. And the pandemic appears to be taking a greater economic toll on African American and Hispanic households than white and Asian American households, according to the latest survey results from Rice University’s COVID-19 Registry.
Cities need to reject the notion that they are the pandemic problem; rather, they need to assert their collective brainpower, humanity and economies as the solution to emerging from this current crisis smarter, kinder and more prosperous than ever.
Kinder Institute senior fellow and former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett sees three major challenges that need to be addressed as Texas begins the task of tackling its economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.